Budget 2015 and landlords

Now that the dust has settled on George Osbourne's Summer 2015 budgets, an interesting argument has emerged - is it fair for private landlords?

The Telegraph has published (see the full article here) some interesting For and Against arguments, what do you think?:

For: It will stop more landlords piling into an overheated buy-to-let market

Counter: But the Bank of England's stance, reining in high loan-to-value buy-to-let mortgages, will do that.

For: It will trigger a sell off of buy-to-let homes releasing supply into the market for first-time buyers and controlling house prices

Counter: But it will limit the supply for renters who cannot necessarily afford the deposit to buy a new home

Counter: A restricted rental supply will push up rents.

Counter: Building more homes for both the rental and owner occupier markets would go further to control price inflation.

For: It is only fair that as homeowners cannot offset their mortgage payments then neither should landlords.

Counter: This is is comparing apples with pears. Homeowners are not running businesses nor do they pay capital gains tax, for example, on disposal of their property.

Counter: Landlords offer a service to tenants and should therefore be entitled to offset their interest payments as other service operators are able to do.

Arguments sourced from a Telegraph article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/budget/11724804/Buy-to-let-How-todays-Budget-will-affect-landlords.html
Written by Anna White, July 2015

It will be interesting to see over the next few months how this affects the property market. Will it increase the number of properties available to buy? Will rent prices increase?

Whether you are considering are buying or letting, talk to Moore & Partners today

Published on 17 July 2015